Mail drop and cabinet

The original mailbox was a cheap little metal thing screwed to the wood siding near the front door. It's visible in one of the photos in my bow window post. It had to go. I needed something bigger. I wanted my vacation mail piling up INSIDE the house. But standard through-the-door mailslots sold at local hardware stores were no good. They're all too narrow and too drafty.

So I got this large commercial-style aluminum mail drop from Mailboxes.com (for $100) and built a faceplate that included the doorbell button. The maildrop came with an adjustable flap stop that's restrictive enough to prevent an arm from reaching through.


Digital modeling was indispensable. Tight projects like this require a careful study of form, function, style, material — even construction methods — all at once.


Accurate measurements were also important — precise hole-cutting was crucial.


Inside the house, a cabinet was needed to hold the mail that drops through the wall. Design factors include proper sizing for the quantity and bulk of postal mail, a door that's easy to open, a way to see the mail without having to open the cabinet door, and a style to match the room's decor.

My software also turns out quick colored renderings, which is essential for good decision-making. Here's how it first looked.


One other design constraint that I imposed upon myself: I had to use as much of the leftover scraps I as I could from earlier projects. This almost became a scrap project! The finished box ended up using maple from a previous cabinet construction, sepetir wood from my desktops, acrylic panels from something (I forget), hinges from a bulk purchase and aluminum flashing from a fluorescent lamp fabrication.


The only wood I had to purchase was a fancy piece for the top. I found some bolivian rosewood (pau ferro) for $21 at MacBeath Hardwood. I think the richness of the rosewood adds an immeasurable appeal.